


Single Parenting is Complicated

by anactualforrealadult



Series: Zuko the single dad wonder [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: A follow up to True Calling, F/M, M/M, Rated T for swearing, Single Dad AU, Slice of Life, Zuko is a Good Dad, and also the mention of panic attacks, and some implied sexual content later, gay Zuko
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:42:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24707023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anactualforrealadult/pseuds/anactualforrealadult
Summary: So this is just my dumping ground for snippets that didn't fit into my first story.  It gonna be a variety of nonsense and y'all are gonna deal with it.
Relationships: Izumi (Avatar)/Original Male Character(s), Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar)/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Zuko the single dad wonder [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1786198
Comments: 6
Kudos: 142





	1. Falling in Love is Complicated

**Author's Note:**

> Right so we know LoK did Sokka and Suki dirty, so I made up some kids for them. According to my five minutes of 2 am googling, here are the name translations in Inuit.  
> Kaskae: Chief  
> Sos: Bear  
> Shesh: Brown bear  
> Take a wild guess as to who got to name the twins. Suki was too tired afterwards and refuses to admit her regret.
> 
> Also, I refused to use character identifiers in my first attempt at dialogue and y'all can just use your brains, fight me

Despite the proclamation her father made years ago about how the Crown Princess would no be put in an arranged marriage, plenty of noblewomen continued to send their sons after Izumi at every opportunity. She knew how to turn them down, politely and also forcefully, but it was still annoying. At eighteen she had been appointed as Princess Regent, giving her more responsibilities than before and leaving her little time to consider relationships. Once in a blue moon her father would ask if she had any plans, but would not press further when she said no. She knew he was just concerned, she would have to produce an heir eventually, and she had a biological clock her father never had to worry about. But he always stood by his decision to let her choose a husband, even if he was facing pressure every day from royal officials. She resolved to find a husband by the time she was twenty-five, just to save her father from a heart attack.

When she was twenty, the South Pole Ambassador chose to retire. Hakoda was retiring as chief as well, so Bato was looking forward to spending his retirement days fishing with his friend. Izumi and her father travelled with Bato back to the South in order to celebrate Sokka’s informal coronation as the new chief, and to spend time with old friends who had come to the celebration as well. The transfer of power from father to son was a short ritual less serious than the one Izumi would have one day, but it meant they could all have more time together. While she didn’t get to see many of them as often as when she was small, she had always been close with her father’s friends and their children. Kya and Bumi were slightly older than her, Tenzin a little younger and doing a terrible job flirting with Lin, Suyin laughing behind him. Izumi was closest with Sokka and Suki’s children, the twins Sos and Shesh a year younger than her, and eldest Kaskae only older than her by a handful of months. Which he never let her forget, especially during the two summers she was taller than him by nearly a head. A fact that she in return continued to bring up, even though he had met her height ages ago. They all spent the next few days listening to stories about the war and times that came after (“Who WAS the blue spirit?” “Probably Momo”), staring at the stars, and daring each other to sled down the highest mountain.

As they prepared for the journey back to Caldera, Izumi was surprised to learn that Kaskae would be returning with them. They would need a new ambassador after all, and who better than the son of the new chief. Izumi spent most of the flight teasing him about how he will have to get used to the tropical weather he had always complained about. It would be fun to have someone her own age to spend time with at stuffy meetings, most of her friends had been married off ages ago, and she had to admit she was a little lonely. Kaskae made an off-hand comment about how his father thought he should make an attempt to court Izumi while he was there, secure an Advantageous marriage between the nations in the name of Unity. Izumi’s heart sank to her stomach until she saw Kaskae roll his eyes and make a disgusted face. It was clear that he felt the same about an arranged marriage between the two of them, and Izumi found herself able to breathe easy again.

Izumi spent much of her free time with Kaskae over the next year, teaching him about secret passageways in the palace she had learned since his last visit, which servants to talk to in order to get the best palace gossip, and just what to say to get the chef to get sweets late at night. Zuko enjoyed watching the two tearing around the palace grounds, it reminded him of Izumi’s childhood before she took on responsibilities that kept her up as late as him most nights. Kaskae had also taken it upon himself to remind both father and daughter to sleep; they shared the same passionate work ethic. Sokka and Suki’s son brought a renewed energy to the palace, having inherited his mother’s intelligence and his father’s terrible wit. Zuko was glad that Kaskae could be expected to stay for some time, and felt comfortable leaving him alone with the Princess; his presence deterred the advances that Izumi detested. The Fire Lord had known Kaskae since birth, and the boy was well aware of the consequences that would face him if he stepped out of line. He was unsure what Kaskae was more afraid of: Izumi’s fists, Zuko’s hard glare, or the fact that someone would tell his mother. Whichever it was, Zuko was confident that Kaskae could conduct himself like a gentleman around his daughter.

After a year, Izumi made a very unfortunate discovery during a royal ball: she had caught feelings for Kaskae. There was no denying the jealousy creeping up as she watched Kaskae dance with various eligible noblewomen. Shit. This was bad. Even if he felt the same way about her, their match would only serve to undo the message her father had made clear years ago about her marriage serving no other purpose but love. Also, Uncle Sokka would be insufferable, and that might be just as bad. Zuko notices a change in his daughter during this ball, but says nothing. She will talk to him when she is ready, she always has. And ready she is just a week later when she invites herself into his chambers one evening and screams into the first pillow she finds.

“Would you like to talk about it or would you prefer to keep screaming into that poor pillow? It was a gift from Aunt Katara I’ll have you know.”

“Can I just run away from my feelings by abandoning my title and living in the woods of the Earth Kingdom?”

“I mean sure, but I’ll have to come with you. The council will probably murder me in cold blood if I let the only heir to the throne disappear. We can leave the nation to burn in flames while we hunt for berries and nuts.”

“…I think I like Kaskae. Like, _like_ , him. It’s rather annoying. I don’t have time or energy to chase after him like a little girl, but I want to? It hurts my brain and I need that for things.”

“If it makes you feel better, I’m almost certain he likes you back. He has the flirting expertise of his father, which is to say that he is not subtle and terrible at it.”

“And what does that say about me that I haven’t noticed it at all!?”

“…That you inherited your father’s inability to notice flirting of any kind?”

“Fair enough. So how do I get him and also myself to stop? I want my brain back, I have a meeting with the ambassadors tomorrow and I need to be able to focus on people creating tax shelters in Republic City, not on Kaskae’s biceps.”

“He got those from his mother. Have you considered that it wouldn’t be such a terrible thing? If you two got together?”

“But it would be! First of all, we have been friends since we were in diapers, and second of all can you imagine what people would say? That the Fire Lord’s daughter married for politics at the end of the day?”

“I’m sure that people would be less thrilled with you marrying the son of the Southern water tribe chief than you think. They wouldn’t see it as the kind of advantageous match that you and I would. Plus, wouldn’t being friends already make things easier? You know so much about each other already, you’ve met each other’s parents, and there wouldn’t be as many surprises. You would know he likes you for you, not because you are a princess. Most importantly, you already know you could take him in a fight.”

“This is assuming he likes me back to begin with…I’ll think about it.”

“I’ll send a prayer to Agni that you have better flirting skills than me.”

Agni hears Zuko’s prayer, and before long he notices the two young adults sneaking more time alone outside of meetings. It is clear that the couple does not want to make their relationship public, if they have even established that they _are_ in a relationship. He can tell that Izumi still has reservations about the idea of marrying Kaskae; Zuko wasn’t lying when he said that the citizens of the South Pole would be more enamored with the idea of an inter-nation marriage than the nobles of Caldera. Pus, Sokka _would_ be insufferable. But Izumi is also happy, and Zuko would pull the sun down from the sky if it meant he got to see his daughter smile. After several months of sneaking around the prying eyes of the palace staff, Zuko finds himself able to have a private conversation with Kaskae thanks to a project they are working on together. Izumi has told Zuko little about their relationship, but it is clear that things may be getting more serious. Zuko doesn’t look up from his scroll as he makes a quick comment to Kaskae that he would have the Fire Lord’s blessing should he seek marriage with the Princess. Kaskae says nothing in return, but Zuko can feel him blush from across the table. The younger man does whisper a meaningful “thank you” as he leaves to sleep later in the night, and Zuko makes a mental note to do some personal research on Southern wedding customs.

As the winter solstice draws closer, Kaskae prepares to make his annual visit home for the celebration, and it is immediately obvious that things are not going well between the two young adults. Apparently, Kaskae had told Izumi that he preferred that she did not join him on this trip like she did the year before. He says that a friend of his is getting married, which will require him to stay longer, and he thought she might get bored and antsy being away from her work for so long. Izumi disagrees with this assumption, and suspects that he might have other motivations for not wanting her to come along. They declare each other impossible, and spend the remaining days evading each other’s presence. Zuko does spy them stealing a quick embrace the morning Kaskae is to leave, he hopes that maybe they have at least reached a stalemate in their anger.

Izumi is not quite herself the first week of Kaskae’s trip, and the whole palace feels the effects. Zuko is nearly has miserable just watching her, but his mood changes significantly when he receives a letter from Sokka at the end of the week. Sokka’s handwriting is less legible than normal, indicating his fury. It is hard to make out most of the letter, but he can catch “I WAS ONLY KIDDING” “HOW DARE YOU SET UP OUR CHILDREN” “I NAMED HIM ‘CHIEF’ FOR SPIRITS SAKES” “HE HATES THE WARM WEATHER” and “THIS IS AN OUTRAGE I’M GOING TO CHALLENGE YOU TO AN AGNI KAI”. Zuko hasn’t laughed this hard in ages, and is less surprised when Izumi receives a small package and attached letter the following morning. He convinces himself not to read the letter over her shoulder, but can’t help but catch the words “…know I’m forgiven if I see you wearing my gift on my return”. There are tears in her eyes as she finishes reading the letter, and rushes to open the package. It reveals a beautiful necklace made from sealskin dyed deep red, with a round piece of obsidian attached at the center. The carvings on the stone depict the sun and moon in harmony, and Izumi is shaking a little as she holds the necklace. Attempting to regain her composure, she asks Zuko if he would help her put it on; try as she might her hands are still shaking too much.

Sokka returns with Kaskae the following week, ignoring the lovesick _children_ who are making out on the dock like the whole nation isn’t watching. Instead he makes a half-hearted attack on Zuko, who reminds Sokka that he started all this with the suggestion he made when Kaskae first became ambassador.

“It was supposed to just be a joke! How could I know that my son was too dumb to realize it!?”

“Like father like son. He inherited your flirting skills as well, it took _forever_ for me to get those two together.”

Sokka makes a strangled sound in his throat but concedes that he has lost, especially after Izumi points out that having his disapproval only makes her want to marry Kaskae harder. Zuko can tell that Sokka is actually more excited than he wants to reveal, its clear how much the young couple loves each other, and Sokka has other children he can name Chief someday (“I should have convinced Suki to name him something else, it’s really the irony of his name that gets me”). His excitement dies down some a few days later when he receives a letter from Toph, addressing a bet that Sokka appears to have lost in the wake of the engagement. 

The two are married on the summer solstice, and Zuko was right to fear that the nobles wouldn’t exactly approve of the match. In their eyes, their sole royal heir was marrying a mere peasant foreigner, but Izumi always did love making their blood boil. The nobles don’t come around to the idea until their first child is born, named for the Jasmine Dragon of the West. Any malice is long gone by the third child, counselors breathing a sigh of relief that at least _this_ royal has given them spares. Happy to see his daughter settled, Zuko is content to give her the throne when she asks, and sends trinkets from his travels to his grandchildren, just as Iroh’s namesake did for him as a child.


	2. Panic Attacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izumi knew her father had panic attacks, but had never been present for one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for an implied panic attack, not fully shown. Also, this chapter will make more sense after reading "A Gay Has Needs", but can technically be read as a stand alone.

Izumi is sixteen the first time she hears her father have a full panic attack. She had been privy to times that his anxiety had gotten the better of him in private, leading him through breathing exercises he had taught her as part of her firebending training. She knew he had a history of panic attacks, the whole palace staff knew, were trained to on how respond after an attack he had when she was seven and nearly broke her back falling from a tree. She hadn’t seen it however, she was a touch unconscious.

It’s a late summer night in Ba Sing Se during a visit to see Uncle. Her father was out visiting a friend, and they were playing pai sho when Zuko bust through the door. She was surprised to see him back already, and was about to say so when he practically ran past without acknowledging their presence and slammed his bedroom door shut. Not used to such behavior from her father, she made a move to get up and check on him when Uncle brought her attention back to the game. Uneasy, she allowed herself to focus on her next move.

Until she heard what had to be crying coming from her father’s room. More concerned than before, she made to move again, but was pulled down back to her seat by her uncle, who turned on the radio and raised the volume just loud enough the drown the unmistakable sobs coming from the other room. She had a hard time concentrating on the game at that point, but Uncle clearly wasn’t concerned so she figured maybe it would best to let it go. Except that she couldn’t, especially when the soft crying seemed to get louder, sounding more like choking and gasping and something more urgent.

She was nearly at his door when she was pulled away and outside the house. Iroh pulled her to a chair on the porch, than sat in the one next to hers, one hand still on her arm. The other hand was on the radio, which he turned up louder. Izumi was about to yell when Iroh quietly suggested that his nephew probably didn’t want an audience at the moment. He mentioned that as far as he knew, this was the first panic attack Zuko had had in a long time, and would probably appreciate some privacy. Her father was an adult who was no stranger to these attacks, and based on past behavior, Iroh found it unlikely that Zuko would hurt himself in the process, at least on purpose. This sobered Izumi immediately as the pieces clicked together. She held back tears as Iroh quietly told her about the first time he had seen her father have a panic attack. Zuko has been younger than she was now, still recovering from his ill-fated Agni Kai. Iroh didn’t know what was happening, and looking back was sure he made things worse. No one had told him that telling someone to “calm down” doesn’t work for panic attacks.

After a time, Iroh stuck his head back in the front door, and deemed it safe to return inside. She could still hear her father breathing heavily, but it seemed steadier and less frantic. Closer to the breathing exercises they practiced together. Satisfied, she headed to her own room, but her racing mind kept her awake. She gave up trying to sleep and picked up a book instead until she heard her father’s door open, and his footsteps pad into the kitchen. Just as she was about to go out, she heard her uncle’s low voice speak. She couldn’t fully hear their conversation, but caught enough to understand that her father had made a mistake he regretted, and that Uncle felt that things would work out. Just hearing her father’s voice and knowing he was ok was enough to finally ease the tension in her mind, and sleep finally claimed her.

The next morning, Izumi awoke to find her father sitting alone in the kitchen. She wondered if he had even gone to bed, he certainly looked like he hadn’t slept. He jumped a little when he finally noticed her presence, and a wave of realization passed over his face when she struggled to find the right thing to say. After meeting her meaningful stare for a moment, he held his arms out to her, and she fell into them as if she was a little kid. She tried to put a lot of unsaid things into the embrace; worry, relief, and love. They simply held each other for a long time, until her father finally released her with a kiss on the head and asked what she wanted for breakfast before heading to the tea shop.

When they arrived at the Jasmine Dragon, her father made a beeline for the kitchen, and she saw him grab the hand of his friend and pull him into a storage closet in the back. It made sense, they probably had a major argument last night, and he was going to set things right. After all, outside of Team Avatar, Jai was her father’s closest friend, no doubt because of how long the man had been Iroh’s right hand at the shop. The two must have made up, because they emerged from the closet smiling some time later, already starting their usual banter as they began working side by side. By the late afternoon she had nearly forgotten the events of the night prior, Jai flicking soapy water at her until Zuko finally dragged him out of the shop, saying they had unfinished business to take care of and that Izumi and Iroh shouldn’t wait up. If there was a mischievous glint in her father’s eye when he said that, Izumi didn’t notice. There was an unfinished game waiting for her and Uncle at home.


	3. Secrets Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izumi was vaguely aware that her dad was gay, but was not ready to witness such clear evidence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will not make sense if you don't read "A Gay Has Needs", this is just an excuse for some angst and fluff

Izumi fiddled with her betrothal necklace, trying to remember how old she was when she figured out that her father was gay. There had always been rumors around the palace, but for a long time Izumi had been too young to understand the meaning behind the words ( _He never took a wife...practically refused...never took any concubines either...always seemed awkward around women...but possibly more awkward around particularly attractive men...almost too comfortable caring for his child_ ). She couldn’t pinpoint an exact moment when it dawned on her, she remembered seeing her fathers gaze linger a little too long on other men at parties, and the time he explained why it was important to repeal laws regarding same sex attraction (“It’s simply outdated, it’s ridiculous”). She knew she had been fairly certain by the time she was a teenager, after her friends explained what the term “homosexual” actually meant. But it never mattered to her much. He clearly wasn’t acting on his desires, and he never brought it up, so she didn’t feel the need to either.

That had changed this morning. The Fire Lord had gone ahead to the Earth Kingdom capital the morning before, claiming to want some time to relax before taking part in the annual trade meeting she would be joining him for. Inspired, Izumi followed soon after, and decided that she would surprise him by showing up early in the morning. Even though they lived in the same palace, they barely got to spend time outside of meetings together these days. Between their usual work and her wedding planning, there was little time to spare, especially when he kept taking trips to Ba Sing Se during any extended free time he had. She didn’t blame him, it had been a hard year since their uncle had passed, and being in the city probably made her father feel closer to the man who had been his surrogate father.

She had arrived the night before, and stayed at the official guest residence in the palace before waking early to take the monorail to the house that had belonged to her late uncle. Sure that he would still be asleep, she quietly snuck into the house and crept to her father’s bedroom door. She slowly opened it and was about to pounce when she realized there were two men in the bed. And she recognized both of them. And based on the evidence on the floor, both men were naked under the sheets.

Oh

OH.

Shit.

She hadn’t even noticed that she had backed out of the room until she closed the door. It was one thing to be vaguely aware of the fact that her father was gay and a very different thing to have very clear evidence of it in front of her. She chanced another peak into the room. The two men were holding each other in their sleep, clearly very comfortable being in the same bed together. Personal items that she knew didn’t belong to her father littered the table next to the bed and around the room, indicating that the other man was a regular visitor. She closed the door again. It was a lot to take in.

Her father was sleeping with his best friend. A multitude of pieces clicked into place in her brain. Shit. She was _so_ dumb. _How_ in spirits name had she never noticed. It was so _obvious_. Were they even trying to keep it a secret? Well clearly they were doing a good enough job that Zuko’s own daughter hadn’t noticed, but maybe it was being too close that had blinded her. She knew her father and Jai had been very close friends for a long time, maybe ten years? Had this been happening the whole time? Or was this a recent development?

She quickly left the house and began to pace around the building. Should she go back and wake them up? Should she wait until later and question her father alone? After her third pass around, she noticed that the water was running in her father’s bathroom. She chanced a peak into his room from the window, and saw him still asleep. Jai must be getting ready for work. He came out a few minutes later with a towel wrapped around his waist. After picking through some of the clothes around the room, he seemed to settle with a shirt and pants with some tea stains. He seemed dissatisfied, and quickly wrote a note that he placed on the side table, using her father’s headpiece to keep it in place. Izumi moved from her hiding spot once he left the room, and headed quickly towards Jai’s house, closer to the shop. She let herself in with the hidden spare key, and sat at his kitchen table to wait. A few minutes later, Jai unlocked the door that she had relocked, and was about to throw his keys in a bowl when he spotted her at the table.

“Shit you scared me. I thought you weren’t getting in until tomorrow. And also you are here in my house for some reason. Without me.”

“I came early to surprise Dad. And now I think we need to talk. Your house wasn’t my first stop of the day.”

Realization swept over Jai’s face and he cursed quietly. “Yeah I guess we do. I need to get changed first though. Make yourself at home...well more at home I guess.” He returned moments later, looking more like the distinguished owner of a famous tea shop.

Taking a seat and a deep breath, he asked her “Right, so what do you already know?”

“We’ve never actually discussed it, but I’ve known dad was gay for a while. It wasn’t hard to figure out. And I just saw you and him sleeping in the same bed together, and I suspect there had been more than sleeping happening...”

“Ok, so I’ll start from the beginning then. Your dad and I met anonymously ages ago, maybe...fifteen years?” Izumi raised an eyebrow. That was certainly earlier than her original calculations.

Jai continued, “It was just sex, I didn’t know who he was and he clearly wanted it that way. Circumstances caused me to learn who he was, and more circumstances led me to working at the shop. We struck an agreement, an arrangement that was just physical, nothing more. At some point we realized that we had become friends too. And eventually that our feelings for each other had become something more.”

Jai paused, smiling, lost in thought for a moment before speaking again. “We know things are...complicated...due to your dad being Fire Lord. So obviously we can’t be together the way we would want. He asked me to wait for him, until a day when things might be less complicated, and we can be more open about our love. Which is what it is. Love, I mean...I am deeply, irrecoverably in love with your dad, Izumi. And I know that he loves me too.”

Hearing Jai say he was in love with her father struck something inside her. Her dad did so much for others, and he had sacrificed so much. She knew what it was like to be loved deeply, and her father deserved that too. Tears were forming in her eyes, and Jai reached to take her hand.

“I know it’s a lot to take in. But I love your father more than anything in the world, and I would do anything for him. We are life partners. Mostly because your dad says we’re too old to be boyfriends. Which is dumb, but I know how to pick my battles.” Izumi snorted. “What I mean is that I’m in this until the bitter end. And I love you too, darling. It’s been a joy watching you grow up, and you are certainly the closest I’m getting to a child of my own. Trust me, if two men could reproduce, your dad and I would have figured it out by now.”

Izumi laughed through her tears, “Spirits, I didn’t need to know that,” Jai was laughing too now, some tears in his eyes as well. Izumi wiped her eyes and squeezed Jai’s hand. “I love you too Jai. You and my dad together...it’s gonna take some time to process, but there’s no one I’d rather see him with. I have a lot of surrogate aunts and uncles, and maybe I’m a bit old to want another parent, but I think you’ll do just fine.”

Jai’s breath hitched a little, and he reached over the table to take Izumi in his arms. After a moment, they both stood to better wrap their arms around each other. A clock chimed suddenly, and panic took over Jai’s face.

“SHIT I’m late.” He rushed to grab his keys and then ran back to give Izumi a peck on the cheek.

“Do me a favor and talk to your dad. He deserves to know that you know, and I’m sure there’s more...father-daughter stuff you might want to discuss without me there.”

Izumi nodded, “I will. We’ll see you later.” Jai flashed her a smile and headed out the door. After taking a moment to collect her thoughts, Izumi left as well, quickly heading back to her dads house. Jai was right, they had a lot to talk about.


	4. Language Development

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko has good parenting instincts, but even he can't predict everything his daughter might do. Or rather, say

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This comes from my own experience as a childcare professional. Children pay attention to more than you think. Damn maybe I actually miss my class of four year old monsters.

Zuko spent a lot of time reading parenting books before Izumi was born. They went mostly neglected when Izumi came home to the palace, Zuko finding his natural parental instincts kicking in without a second thought. At this exact moment, he was wishing that maybe he had read them a little closer. Not that he thought this exact scenario would have come up, but maybe this could have been avoided. Or maybe they would offer advice for what to do. But he hadn’t, so now he was sitting in front of several important officials and nobles while they stared open-mouthed at his two year old.

Zuko loved talking to Izumi, and he did remember the parenting books saying it was important to talk and read to babies often in order to help them develop language skills. He read her everything, and would comment to her on the world around them and even just his thoughts at the moment. He liked to think she was a good listener, and would pretend she was responding when she made noises back at him. But she was a baby, there was little chance she actually understood half the words he was saying.

And maybe that was why he didn’t find himself censoring himself around her. His friends would chastise him when they caught him swearing around Izumi, but he would just roll his eyes and remind them that she was a baby who was still working to say more than “Dada”. He would start censoring himself when she got older. Looking back, he wished he had listened to his friends, wished he had reread some of the parenting books that talked about language development. Maybe he would have been saved from this embarrassment.

He had been in the middle of a Very Important meeting, half paying attention to Izumi sitting next to him coloring. She couldn’t do much more than scribbles, but it kept her entertained while some official or another was droning on. Izumi turned her body in her seat to babble something at Zuko, and mistakenly knocked all her crayons on to the floor. Before he could lean over and retrieve them, Izumi commented on the situation.

“Shit!”

Whoever was talking stopped, and all eyes turned on the tiny princess.

“Shit! Daddy! M’ cayns felled down!”

The silence continued, and Zuko wished that someone would say literally _anything_. He couldn’t think of a moment more mortifying in his whole life than hearing his daughter swear in front of some of the most important people in the nation. His didn’t need a mirror to know his face was as red as his robes. It was finally Izumi who broke the silence a moment later.

“Daaaaahddyyyy! Help me! Cayns felled down!”

Zuko snapped out of his trance and scooped up the fallen crayons. Izumi went back to her scribbles, but the meeting had not resumed and all eyes had shifted to the Fire Lord, as if they were waiting for him to explain what had just happened.

“Umm…”

Say something Zuko. Anything Zuko.

“Uhh…”

Should he acknowledge what just happened? Should he ignore it? Where did she even learn to say _that_? (He knew the answer, but couldn’t bring himself to admit it)

To his great relief, Zuko ended up not needing to say anything. One of the older officials started snickering, and another started to chuckle, and soon the whole room was laughing. Zuko was also laughing, but he wasn’t sure why.

“We always hope our children will hear our words, but sometimes they take that a little too literally. I remember the first time my son cursed at a dinner party with my in-laws, I thought I would die right there!” said the official who had started the chain of laughter, wiped a tear from his eye as he fondly remembered the memory. A few more around the table added their own stories of their children saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. The tension was lifted from the room, and Zuko found he could breathe easy again. Slowly, the conversation turned back to the original matter at hand, the entire incident forgotten by the end of the meeting. Well, almost forgotten. He heard the maids giggling whenever Izumi passed for the next few days, and somehow the story made it farther than the palace by the end of the week, as Toph brought it up the next time she was in town. She was over the moon to discover that her psudo-niece was more badass than she gave the child credit for, and Zuko had to beg her to stop trying to get his daughter to repeat lewd phrases.

Zuko finally dug up his old parenting books, and discovered that they did in fact talk about how children will repeat just about anything they hear people say. Especially if it is a word or phrase they hear repeated often.

Maybe he should stop cursing around his daughter.

His hair was turning grey quickly enough already.


	5. Magical Spirit Baby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is stunned, and a little jealous, how good Zuko is at this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I refuse to write proper dialogue with character markers and I don't care what anyone thinks about it.

When Zuko told his friends that he was going to be a father, they thought he was making a joke. After realizing he wasn’t laughing with them, they started to question the premise of this statement.

“Zuko, you’re gay.”

“Thanks for the reminder Aang, I had almost forgotten. Doesn’t mean I don’t have the ability to father children.”

“Gay sex doesn’t make babies Sparky, trust me, I tried. Had to get mine the old fashioned way.”

“You found your kids in a refugee camp Toph, we were there.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about, those babies came out of my body, they look just like me, you have no proof.”

“Let’s bring this back around to the original topic folks. Zuko, what they hell do you mean you are having a kid.”

“Just that. The officials have been getting on my case to marry and produce an heir, but I didn’t feel like getting married so I just skipped that step.”

“You willingly had sex with a woman just to get some old guys to stop yelling at you?”

“Pretty much. I don’t know why this is such a big deal, I’m old as shit, and blood purity is stupidly important to the Royal Line and you all know I’m a slut for maintaining the honor of my nation.”

“First of all, you are barely thirty. Second…your horniness for honor is actually a pretty good explanation, I will concede that. Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

“It all happened pretty quickly, I didn’t want to think about it longer than I had to so…here’s me telling you now. It’s not like the surrogate is going to play a significant role in my life after giving birth to my heir, shit I don’t even know her name.”

The rest of the group looked at each other nervously. Zuko had certainly come a long way from the moody teenager he once was, and they knew he had started going to therapy years ago, but the Fire Lord didn’t seem like the…fatherly type. It didn’t help that Zuko kept referring to his impending child as his “heir”. At least his father had set the bar extremely low, but they had all seen how awkward Zuko was around their own kids. Still, there was nothing any of them could do about the situation, so they did their best to let it go.

When the announcement came that the Fire Princess was born, all of Zuko’s friends decided that they ought to come by to provide moral support, so they coordinated a group trip. They were surprised that Zuko didn’t greet them upon landing in Caldera, instead met by an attendant who said that they could meet the Fire Lord in his suite at the palace. The attendant seemed on edge when he said this, as did much of the rest of the palace staff as they walked through the halls. Maybe things were worse than expected.

What they definitely didn’t expect was the sight of Zuko lying on the floor of his living area, talking very pointedly to a very tiny baby wiggling on the carpet.

“Now, Izumi, I know what you are thinking. If I let those jackasses raise taxes on imports, aren’t people going to get pissed off? And that’s an excellent point, and I thought of that…oh hey guys!”

No one could think of a single thing to say. Here was the normally stoic and quiet Fire Lord, lying on the ground talking to his baby like it was the most natural thing in the world. He scooped his daughter up with fluid expertise as he went to greet his dumbfounded friends. For spirits’ sake, he even looked _less_ tired than he had several months ago. That simply wasn’t fair.

“Zuko…you’re looking good?”

“I feel good! I should have had a baby years ago! Like I know that people say you shouldn’t have kids to avoid dealing with things you go to therapy for, but I feel like I’ve made the same amount of progress in the last three weeks of her life as I have in the last eight years of therapy. Turns out that have a tiny person literally depend on you for everything helps you feel self-worth, how crazy is that? Izumi has been keeping me in line, reminding me that eating and taking breaks is important. Also, I just sleep whenever she does, so I’m sleeping nearly three times as much as I used to!” Zuko said all of this while giving each person a hug, and then plopped down on a couch with a bottle that seemed to appear from thin air. He kept talking at rapid speed while feeding the baby.

“But seriously, it’s been great, she’s _such_ a good baby. She’s rarely fussy, she’s a great listener, and I know she’s only three weeks old but I swear she’s gonna be a genius. We do everything together, well mostly we just hang out around the palace, all the jackasses at the meetings kept saying she was distracting them, and I know she’s super cute, but I told them where they could shove it. Things haven’t burned down in the last two weeks, so it’s probably fine. That’s why she’s gonna be a genius, she figured out exactly how to make me take the first non-illness break of my life and I don’t even feel guilty about it! My secretaries keep me updated and I send them notes back so I can spend more time with this beauty. I mean seriously, she’s definitely cuter than any of your babies were at this age, and you can fight me on that.” Bottle empty, Zuko deftly lifted the baby up to burp her, and then laid her back down on the carpet, where Zuko slid down to join her.

“So what’s new with you guys?”

The other adults had found their ways to seats but still couldn’t quite think of what to make of this situation.

“Zuko…what happened to you?”

“I became a dad, I thought that was obvious by the incredible baby I’ve been hanging out with.”

“But you seem…different?”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Well no but…you didn’t seem so…parental…last time.”

Zuko shrugged and leaned over to tickle Izumi’s belly. “I don’t know what to tell you. It all just makes sense to me now. It’s like she’s telling me what she needs and I just do it. And mostly what she wants is just cuddles, and I’m an expert. Speaking of, if any of you want to hold her, that’s fine but I will cut you if you don’t wash your hands first.”

They all stared at the tiny baby on the floor, cooing at Kaskae who had fussed enough for Suki to put him down as well. This creature had managed to completely change their friend into someone totally new. Zuko was smiling brighter than they had ever seen, and despite the buzzing energy he clearly had from getting a normal amount of sleep (How was that even fair??? And how much sleep had he been getting before???), he seemed remarkably relaxed. Not some strong world leader, but just a man with a singular task he was handling with ease.

Working to accept this new version of their friend, the group settled into their old dynamics, each taking turns holding baby Izumi (after washing their hands of course) and chatting about their lives. Izumi had had a very busy first three weeks of life apparently. After an hour or so, Izumi began to yawn, and Zuko kicked the gang out so that they could both sleep. Back in their own guest chambers, they all talked about how much this tiny being had such an impact on their friend.

“Maybe this is what Sparky needed all along. Something that therapy couldn’t give him. A whole baby induced make-over.”

“It’s still super weird. I mean I guess it’s easier since he has staff that can do a lot of stuff for him, but he’s still doing a lot of the hands on work.”

“Do you think that’s why the staff seems so on edge? I can’t imagine any of Zuko’s family was this hands-on with their kids.” Sokka pondered.

“Well I’m not going to complain, this baby has gotten him to relax and chill out in a way none of us could ever manage. He sleeps when she sleeps! Can you imagine when she starts sleeping through the night?! That man is going to be unstoppable.” Aang has a wistful face as he says this, not able to remember the last time he got a full night of sleep since becoming a parent.

“Maybe it’s a magic spirit baby. I mean it’s certainly not _his_ baby.”

“Everyone turned to stare at Katara.

“What?”

“What do you mean it’s not his baby?”

“Isn’t it obvious? She looks nothing like him!”

“No baby looks like their parents thing young, she looks like any other newborn: generally squishy and looking like a blob fish.”

“But there’s always still _some_ resemblance!” Katara insisted firmly.

“Exactly, she has his hair.”

“Every Fire Nation baby has black hair, that doesn’t count.”

“But you really think that he lied and that this is just some random baby he picked up, like Toph?”

“I don’t know if you are implying that I am a baby or that my babies didn’t come from my vagina but I’m offended either way.”

“Shut up Toph. And yes! There’s something about her, I can’t figure out what. My pregnancy brain is screaming it like crazy.”

“ _You’re pregnant?!”_

“Aang, I told you over a week ago. How have you already forgotten?”

“…Maybe I should join Zuko in his nap.”

Katara’s point would be proven as Izumi grew up. She certainly looked enough like him that no one was questioning her parentage, but those closest to him could tell it was mostly the dominant Fire Nation traits everyone else had. None of them ever brought this up to Zuko, at the end of the day, there was no questioning that genetics aside, this was his kid. And he was Super Dad.


End file.
